A memorial service for the elder Phillips will be held Friday in Potomac, Maryland, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, federal investigators continue to probe what caused the plane to crash into a rugged mountainside in southwestern Alaska, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Alaska Air National Guard rescuers were hampered by poor weather and terrain -- slogging for hours through rain, fog and wind to reach the site of the plane crash.

Autopsies on the five victims found the deaths were the result of blunt force trauma, Greg Wilkinson, an official at the medical examiner's office, said Friday. He said the state medical examiner, Dr. Katherine Raven, found the injuries to be consistent with this type of crash.

Raven also found that the injuries were not survivable, he said.

A funeral for Stevens, who served in the U.S. Senate for 40 years, will be held Wednesday at the Anchorage Baptist Temple in Anchorage.